Dialectics of Sahajanand Saraswati: Khet Mazdoor and the Other Agrarian Discourses

Abstract

Lokasamgraha (welfare for all) in India from the ancient scripture Bhagavad Gita has been a central interlocutor in the significant debates during the nationalist struggle for independence. Nationalist leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Aurobindo Ghosh, Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi have interpreted the philosophy of lokasamgraha based on their political needs and cultural outlook. Its presence was crucial during the nationalist struggle for independence to address the ethical basis of general welfare and social existence. Each of them engaged with the concept of lokasamgraha in their enterprise of the struggle for independence. To them, independence from colonial rule was as much a spiritual goal as it was a political objective. Unlike the other nationalist leaders of his time, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati (1889–1950), a Hindu ascetic cum peasant leader, used the concept of lokasamgraha to address unequal economic relations within the society. Instead of looking at the dichotomies solely as a product of British rule, he came to challenge the hegemony of the dominant section using the notion of lokasamgraha. He made it a necessary axiom to transform rural society from within by incorporating the lessons of the Gita to justify his exposition of keeping the khet mazdoor together with the remaining cultivating class.

Keywords

economic inequalities peasant leader colonial Bihar

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bayly

C. A.

(1987). Indian society and the making of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press.

Beteille

(1970). Peasant associations and the agrarian class structure. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 4(1), 126–139.

Buchanan

(1934). An account of the district of Shahabad, 1812–1813. Patna Law Press.

Buchanan

(1939). An account of the districts of Bihar and Patna, 1811–1812. Oriental Press.

Chaudhari

J. P.

(1926). Kushvaha kshatriya parichay. Chaudhari and Sons.

Das

A. N.

(1983). Agrarian Unrest and Socio-economic Change in Bihar 1900–1980. Manohar Publishers.

Dhanagare

D. N.

(1991). Peasant Movements in India: 1920–1950. Oxford University Press. p. 14.

Dev

A. N.

(1946). Socialism and the national revolution. Padma Publication.

Dutt

R. P.

(1949). India today (p. 218). People’s Publishing House.

10.

Ennew

, Hirst

, & Tribe

(1977). Peasantry as an economic category. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 4(4), 295–322.

11.

Gandhi

M. K.

(1966). Instructions to U.P. peasant. In Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi (Vol. 22, p. 337). Navajivan Trust.

12.

Gandhi

M. K.

(1976). Discussion with Bengal Congressmen (13 April 1938). In Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi (Vol. 67, pp. 22)–24). Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

13.

Government of Bihar and Orissa. (1912). Report of sadhus taking part in non-cooperation [Special Section, File No. 80, 2/3, 1921]. Political Department, Bihar State Archives.

14.

Gowda

(2011). The Bhagavad Gita in the nationalist discourse. Oxford University Press.

15.

Hauser

(Ed.). (2005). Sahajanand on agricultural labour and the rural poor. Manohar Publication.

16.

Hauser

, & Jha

(Eds). (2015). Culture, vernacular politics, and the peasants: India, 1889–1950—An edited translation of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati’s Mera Jivan Sangarsh. Manohar Publishers.

17.

Heidrich

(1995). Ochre robe and tricolour: Sanyasis and sadhus in social movements in the first half of 20th century. In Hafner

(Ed.), Essays in South Asian society, culture and politics (Vol. 1, pp. 57)–72). Das Arabische Buch.

18.

Kumar

(2020). B. R. Ambedkar on caste and land relations in India. Review of Agrarian Studies, 10(1), 37–56.

19.

Kumar

(2001). Rewriting the language of politics: Kisans in colonial Bihar. Manohar Publishers.

20.

Moon

(Ed.). (2014). Babasaheb Ambedkar writings and speeches (Vol. 15, p. 913). Ambedkar Foundation.

21.

Narayan

(1934, November 13). Circular to CSP provincial secretaries. In Selected works of Jayaprakash Narayan (Vol. 1, pp. 88)–89). Manohar Publishers.

22.

Omvedt

(1994). Dalits and the democratic revolution: De Ambedkar and the Dalit movement in colonial India. Sage Publications.

23.

Omvedt

(1996). Peasants and their leaders: Sahajanand on agricultural labour and the rural poor. In Hauser

Walter

(Ed.), Swami Sahajanand and the Peasants of Jharkhand: A view from 1941, by Hauser

Walter

(Vol. 28(3–4), pp. 101–104). Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars.

24.

Pandey

G. C.

(2015). Swami Sahajanand and his world view. Manohar Publishers.

25.

Pinch

W. R.

(1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press.

26.

Pinch

W. R.

(Ed.). (2008). Speaking of peasants: Essays on Indian history and politics in honour of Walter Hauser. Manohar Publishers.

27.

Ranga

N. G.

(1949). Revolutionary peasants. Amrit Book.

28.

Rasul

M. A.

(1974). A history of all India Kisan Sabha. National Book Agency.

29.

Resolution on Agricultural Labour. (1939, April 9–10). 4th session of All-India Kisan Sabha, Gaya.

30.

Saraswati

(1927). Kurmi kshatriya itihaas. Shivaramsinha.

31.

Saraswati

(1938, May 13). Presidential address 3rd session of AIKS, Comilla.

32.

Saraswati

(1948). Gita Hriday. Kitab Mahal. 2nd edition. (1942).

33.

Shanin

(Ed.). (1971). Peasants and peasants societies. Penguin.

34.

Sleeman

W. H.

(1839). A report on the system of Megpunnaism. Serampore Press.

35.

Thorner

(1956). The agrarian prospect in India. University Press.